


To Love Is To Listen

by LaPriestly



Category: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Genre: Cute, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 13:50:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1781335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaPriestly/pseuds/LaPriestly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To be a good assistant, one has to listen. Andrea thinks of herself as an extremely good assistant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Love Is To Listen

The offices were quieter. With Emily promoted upwards and onwards, the office was quieter. No more muttering “ _I love my job_ ”, no sly remarks said in not- _quite_ -a-whisper. No more drama or the panic attacks at the impending arrival of Miranda Priestly at her place of work. Nothing.

Instead, Andy noted, the office was remarkably and _pleasantly_ quiet; not that it was silent of course. The phone rang constantly, more now that preparation for the September Issue was in full-swing. Runway was alive and buzzing, in a harmonious hum, devoid of the incredibly irritating sound of Emily Charlton.

What Andy had especially began to enjoy in this new era of silence and relative calm, was listening to Miranda. From the outer-sanctuary, even with Miranda’s door only left slightly ajar, Andy could hear _everything_. That’s not to say she was being nosey, because that would be improper, and un-assistant-like, and Andy had proved herself to be the most attentive and hardworking assistant to have served at the pleasure of Ms. Priestly. It’s just that Andy couldn’t _help_ but hear everything. Lately all that seemed to fill her mind was her demanding boss; and not just thoughts about when she would most-likely want her next Starbucks. Andy was thinking about Miranda, the person.

Working as close to someone as Andy did to Miranda, one learns things. What phone calls do you take which ones you most certainly avoid; the slight fluctuations of mood that sprinkle along the day. You also begin to see more closely than others, the signs of tiredness and hunger, the small smiles and looks of relief as she dons her coat to head home after a particularly gruelling day.

Yet, Andy had come to learn so much more just by sitting and working quietly at her desk, just _listening_.

You would never think Miranda Priestly had any time, patience or desire to sit and listen to the latest hot one-hundred, yet the sound of her humming, and every so occasionally singing the odd-lyric to herself as she tapped away at her laptop or perused over the latest shoot, Andy knew different. Apparently one of the twins was going through a Rihanna phase, which had most definitely rubbed off on Miranda, for she couldn’t help bursting out with “ _Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world_ ” for a good couple of weeks until it was replaced with the other Twin’s favourite, Justin Bieber.

It wasn’t just pop that Miranda hummed or sung. As much as Miranda Priestly would like everyone to believe that the likes of Rachmaninov, and Schubert tickled her fancy, her favourite to sing and hum were rhythm and blues, Nina Simone style. Miranda is often described as anything other than sweet, but she certainly wanted more than a little sugar in her bowl.

This bemused Andy, probably more than it should. Of course Miranda Priestly listens to music, and of course she likes music (who, doesn’t enjoy listening to music?), but in those quiet moments where both women were working away, there was something rather magical listening to Miranda Priestly, simply be Miranda.

Well, magical _and_ maybe slightly sexy too.

Those raspy tones and lyrics of want and desire entrapped Andy. Her boss was formidable, eviscerating, and dominant, but oh my, wasn’t she sexy too. And so, it was there, in the outer-sanctuary of Miranda Priestly’s office, that Andrea Sachs developed a rather impressive crush for her boss.

__

When the biggest and most important issue of the year is in the midst of being borne, for Andy, there were no days off. Where once her Saturdays had been spent lounging around, dipping into a light novel, or crashing infront of her tv, now they were spent in Miranda’s kitchen.

With the weekends the only time Miranda could spend any valuable time with her beloved twins; work travelled to her, and so Andy found herself week-in and week-out working from the rather sublime kitchen of Miranda Priestly.

Getting much work done in this environment proved to be increasingly more difficult, especially during the height of summer, and Miranda dressing considerably (although, still fabulously) down. Andy had never thought herself attracted to bare feet before, and yet, the sight of Miranda’s bare toes cushioned into the soft carpets that lined the house, or flopping against the cool tiles of the kitchen floor, were apparently quite the distraction. Everything was different inside Miranda’s house; Miranda was different. Even with so much work to do, and the deadline leaping closer and closer, in her home, she was calm, and relaxed.

So relaxed, Andy noticed, she giggled.

Oh, how Miranda loved to giggle. As Caroline and Cassidy told her stories from their week, all Andy could hear was the sound of Miranda giggling away. It was… _cute_ , not that she would ever dare to mention that to anyone else. No one would believe her.

So Andy worked away, quietly and efficiently, in the kitchen of Miranda Priestly, thinking she was cute, and that her feet were gorgeous; and this was most definitely not a problem, until…

“Andrea… Why aren’t you answering your phone, do assistants not answer the phone anymore?”

The piercing sound of Andy’s cellphone had failed to bring Andy out of her daydream. The fact it had vibrated itself off the table and onto the floor had also failed to bring her to focus; so instead she found herself face-to-face with a perturbed and _mildly_ -annoyed Miranda.

“Oh, shhhhh---, uhhm, sorry Miranda, I uhhh”

“Nodded off?”

“No, was uhm, thinking…”

“And what, dare-I-ask, was you thinking about that was so important that I missed-“ Miranda picked up the phone and peered at the screen “missed a highly important telephone call from Nigel, Andrea?”

She should have prepared for this. Miranda doesn’t like her calls rolling to voicemail, that is the first thing any new assistant learns. When you don’t answer that phone, you must have a valid reason, and even that is not always enough…

“The, oh, the weather?”

“I missed a phone call because you were thinking about the weather, Andrea?”

There was annoyance in Miranda’s voice, but a playfulness in her eyes.

“Yes, the weather, I was wondering if we needed to have a back-up plan in place for the shoot on Wednesday, I remember reading that we’re due for an electric storm in the next few days…”

It was a good cover, but was it good enough…

“Maybe we need some umbrellas for the models?”

At this point Andy was saved by a twin, who ran into the kitchen and burst into full song, looking playfully at her Mom.

“ _Now that it’s raining more than ever, know that we’ll still have each other, you can stand under my umbrella, you can stand under my umbrella_ ”

Just when Andy thought this moment couldn’t get any stranger, Miranda joined her daughter in a duet as they finished the chorus;

“ _(Ella ella eh eh eh)_  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella eh eh eh)  
Under my umbrella  
(Ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)”

So Andy slipped back into her reverie, enjoying every precious second this Miranda she very rarely got to see, but more than that, the sound of Miranda Priestly singing Umbrella was rather impressive and beautiful, oh and hoping that Nigel wouldn’t have the audacity to call her again, because she was not missing moment of this magic.

**Author's Note:**

> All the characters of course, belong to Lauren Weisberger and Fox Pictures & Co. I merely borrow and enjoy them every now and then. This work is un-beta'ed, but please pass forward any typos or other infarctions of the English language. This is also my first completed fiction. I hope posting this will inspire me to finish other things I have written for these lovely ladies. 
> 
> Oh, and I know I love to read my fanfiction on my eReader, so feel free to download/convert and read in whatever format you choose. However, please do not repost this as your own. Share, but don't steal.


End file.
